DAIRY FREE, GLUTEN FREE, PALEO

This is salad number five of seven, of my seven salads in seven days series. This one so quick & easy to make. It takes barely any time at all. If you like, feel free to have the green beans and asparagus raw, but I like to have the contrast of hot and cold ingredients. The base of this salad is so versatile, replace the chicken with any meat or roasted vegetable of your choice!

METHOD

Start off by snapping off the ends of the asparagus, and top and tail the green beans. In a pan on medium heat add the coconut oil, green beans, asparagus, salt, pepper. Finely grate the clove of garlic and add this and the lemon juice to the pan, allow to cook for 3/4 minutes. You still want everything to have a bit of bite to it. Do not allow the greens to become floppy! When the greens are done, put them to one side and quickly toast the diced almonds in the same pan. This should take no longer than 2 minutes. Place these to one side also until needed.

Next prepare the rest of the salad. Lay out the leaves on your plate. Finely slice the spring onions, radishes, cornichons, tomatoes & avocado. Sprinkle these ingredients out over the salad leaves. Drape over the salmon in what ever fashion you like, add the asparagus, green beans and toasted almonds. To make he dressing add all of the ingredients into a jar and shake well. Drizzle over the salad and toss everything together, making sure all the ingredients are coated. Enjoy!

DAIRY FREE, GLUTEN FREE & PALEO

Oh holy mother! This salad is one of my favourites so far. Vegetarians please look away and meat eaters please salivate. In this recipe I will give you a few tips that I have learnt over the years to cook the perfect steak. I love the marbled fat running though these sirloin steaks. Don't be afraid to go heavy handed with the garlic, I did!

HOW TO COOK THE PERFECT STEAK

Firstly, have the steak at room temperature before searing or pan frying. This allows you to control the cooking process.

Do not oil the pan oil the steak. Rub rape seed oil or olive oil over the steaks with your seasonings. Leave the steak to marinate in the oil for at least 5-10 minutes before placing on the pan.

Have the pan smoking hot, literally. Get the pan as hot as you can before placing the steaks on it.

A minute a side. Lay the steaks down away from you in the pan. Cook for 60 seconds each side, this ensures that the steaks are cooked evenly on both sides. Keep rotating for as long as you want depending on how you like your steak cooked.

Leave to rest for the same amount of time as you cooked the steaks. Leave the juices to settle in the steaks, this is just as important as the cooking process and is vital if you want a juicy tender steak. Cover with tin foil keep in the heat while resting.

METHOD

First thing to do is get the steaks marinating. As I said above, make sure the steaks are at room temperature. Lay the steaks on a plate, drizzle over a generous amount of olive oil, squirt over the juice of half a lemon, and finely grate the garlic. Season with salt and pepper and massage the seasonings in the steak. Leave to sit for at least ten minutes. While the steak is marinating, you can prepare the dressing and extras.

For the dressing, add the juice of one lemon and the same amount of olive oil to a jar. Add the mustard, salt and pepper and give a good shake to mix everything together. To prepare the rest of the salad, sprinkle a generous handful of rocket leaves on each plate. Scatter chopped tomatoes, finely sliced red onion, radishes & asparagus on each plate. Leave the asparagus heads whole.

Turn the cooker on full whack and place your griddle pan on top. Allow to heat for at least 2 minutes before placing the steak down, it should be at smoking point. Using a tongs, lay the steak down away from you. Cook the steak one minute per side. The steaks that I cooked only took 2 minutes. Depending on how thick the steak is, time will vary. Remove the steak from the griddle pan and allow to rest for 3 to 4 minutes. Cover the steak with tin foil.

After a few minutes slice the steak up into strips and lay it down over the salad. Drizzle over the lemon and mustard dressing. Enjoy!

VEGAN, VEGETARIAN & DAIRY FREE

This is salad number two of seven, of my seven salads in seven days series. I love getting creative with flavours and textures in the kitchen. There has been two pots of gorgeous smelling thyme and rosemary in my kitchen for the last week, and Ive been thinking up different ways to use them. Their beautiful aromas are certainly heightened in this salad. With couscous being a fantastic carbohydrate, this salad will keep you going all the way through your busy day. Eat it warm just after you've made it, or lovely and chilled as a packed lunch, either way, your tastebuds will be transported right to the mediterranean!

METHOD

Firstly, preheat the oven to 200 degree celsius. Roughly chop up the red onions, courgette & yellow pepper. Finely chop the rosemary. Scatter the vegetables in a roasting tray with the chopped rosemary. Using the back of a knife and the palm of your hand crush two cloves of garlic just so that they are bruised and add them to the roasting tin. Give a generous seasoning with salt and pepper and drizzle everything with olive oil. Place in the oven for 40 minutes, until all the vegetables are nicely roasted.

Meanwhile, make the couscous. Place the couscous in a bowl, pour over 1 cup of boiling water and leave to stand covered for 12-15 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed. At this stage it is a nice idea to place a few lemon wedges into the couscous so the lemon flavor starts to seep into all the couscous. In a pan on medium heat. Toasted the sliced almonds with a little bit of salt and pepper until golden and aromatic. Leave to the side until needed.

For the assembly. Fish the wedges of lemon out of the couscous, and fluff it up using a fork. Pour in all the roasted vegetables, including the garlic cloves and all the juices. Squeeze over the lemon juice. Finely chop the thyme and mint and sprinkle over the vegetables. Give a final glug of olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Mix everything through. Enjoy for lunch or dinner!

PALEO, GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE & SUGAR FREE

Having just made falafel using chickpeas I was dying to try out new ways to make it paleo! I came up with this recipe after many failed attempts in the kitchen. They are light fluffy and packed with flavor. I found I could eat a lot more of these than regular falafel and you wont be left feeling groggy or bloated. If you want a delicious sauce to accompany these little beauties, I came up with a light and zesty lemon yogurt dipping sauce. For a lunch or dinner idea, have this falafel wrapped in little gem lettuce leaves with all the trimmings.Recipe is here.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

Chop the florets of the head of the cauliflower and add them to your blender. Blitz the cauliflower until it resembles fine rice grains. Steam the cauliflower until it is cooked through, this should not take longer than 5 minutes. Using a tea towel or a cheese cloth, gather the steamed cauliflower and squeeze tightly until all the moisture has been removed. You should be left with a compact cauliflower ball as pictured above.

Finely chop the spring onion, chili, parsley and add to the cauliflower. Then add the juice of half a lime, the almond flour, spices and season to taste. Crack in one egg and combine everything together. Pour the mixture out onto a chopping board and shape it into a rectangle about one inch in depth. Slice the falafel mixture into ten pieces, this way the falafel will cook evenly and be uniform in size.

Heat the coconut oil in a heavy based pan. You know when the oil is hot enough when you place a piece of falafel down in the oil and it starts to sizzle straight away. Don't put the falafel in too early, otherwise you will not achieve that nice brown, crispy falafel crust.

DAIRY FREE, GLUTEN FREE, VEGETARIAN & SUGAR FREE

I had a very long day of experimentation with falafel today, honestly went through 4 cans to get the result I was really looking for. I came up with two different methods and two different varieties of ingredients. To make falafel balls, with a rough texture as opposed to a smooth centre I found it is best to mash the chickpeas with a fork. If you want to make falafel patties definitely use a blender to create a smoother mixture and spoon this on to your heated pan with oil. In terms of ingredients, I came up with a paleo version made with cauliflower, this is absolutely delicious! Not only are the paleo falafels extremely tasty, they are also moorishly light and will never have you feeling bloated and groggy. So go ahead try out which ever ones you think you'd prefer, or see for yourself and make the two! These are great in pita breads or as I had them wrapped in little baby gem lettuce.

For the Lemon Sauce (not paleo), for a paleo option you can use my lemon mayonnaise 1 cup of fat free greek yogurt zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon bunch of parsley salt pepper tsp horseradish

METHOD

Start off by roughly chopping the spring onions, chili and parsley. Drain the chickpeas and add to a blender(if making patties) or to a bowl(if making balls) if you are mashing them with a fork. When mashing the chickpeas it is not necessary to break them up completely, I actually prefer when they are rough and have a little bite to them.

Next add the spices and seasoning to the bowl or blender. Finally add the chili, parsley, spring onion, egg and lime juice. Blitz until smooth or mix together until everything is well incorporated.

When making the falafel balls I like having all the balls the same size, to do this tip out the falafel mixture onto a chopping board, pat it down into a rectangle about an inch thick and cut into 10 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. When using the blender to make the falafel patties just use a spoon to pour the mixture on to the hot oil in the pan.

In a heavy bottomed pan pour in 1/4 cup of coconut oil and heat on a high temperature. Place in one ball just to test the temperate. If it does not sizzle as soon as the falafel hits the oil, the oil is not hot enough. When the oil is ready add the falafel and cook till golden brown. This usually takes 2/3 minutes per side. When cooked place on a piece of kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.

LEMON SAUCE

Very simply add the greek yogurt to a serving dish. Zest the half the lemon and add the zest and juice to the yogurt. Roughly chop the parsley. Add the parsley, salt, pepper & horseradish and stir to mix everything together. Serve with the delicious falafel.

DAIRY FREE, GLUTEN FREE & VEGAN

Avocado is one of my favourite ingredients to work with, it is so versatile and pairs up amazingly with so many different flavors. I have even managed to work it into a pancake recipe with my avocado and cinnamon pancakes. Avocados, which are actually classified as a fruit, are rich in monounsaturated fat that is easily burned for energy. Personally, I eat a whole avocado virtually every day, which I usually put in my salad. This increases my healthy fat and calorie intake without seriously increasing my protein or carbohydrate intake. It is also very high in potassium and will help balance your vitally important potassium to sodium ratio.Eliminating grain carbs is one of the best ways to support your health and maintain your weight, but when you cut down on carbs, you need to increase your intake of healthy fats. Avocados are an excellent source, along with organic raw butter, coconut oil, and organic eggs, just to name a few! So go ahead, fill yourself up with this amazing fruit!

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

Toast your slice of bread in the toaster. While this is toasting, remove the stone from the avocado, scoop out half and place it in the blender. Allow to blitz for 30 seconds, until everything is broken down. Add a glug of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Blitz again until everything is combined. Drizzle olive oil over the toasted bread and spread the avocado over. Sprinkle with sea salt, drizzle with one last bit of olive oil & lemon.